New MacBook Pro Models: Back To The Future -- January 15, 2021

For Apple aficionados this is huge: there are rumors that the next generation MacBook Pro will address the top three irritants of the current (and recent) versions of the MacBook Pro.

First, the MagSafe is back. This is huge. College students loved the MagSafe. The MagSafe was a quick-release power cord attachment. At Starbucks, if someone got up and "tripped" on your power cord, no problem. The power cord simply separated from the computer and nothing happened. With the current USB-C power cord, if one trips on your power cord at Starbucks, the computer is pulled off the table, coffee is spilled, and a huge commotion ensues. Everyone wanted the MagSafe back but no one thought it possible.

So, there, the MagSafe is rumored to be back.

Second, the TouchBar is gone. I don't know anyone on social media that liked the Touch Bar. It has the feeling of something that Microsoft would have come up with. Stubbornly, Tim Cook seemed to stick with the Touch Bar. But now, apparently, someone got to Tim Cook. 

So, there, the Touch Bar is rumored to be gone. And the physical function buttons are restored.

Third, more ports. Wow, that has been a sore spot for new MacBook owners -- so few ports (and the "wrong" kind of ports) that everyone needed to purchase "dongles" or adapters to connect to their peripherals, like printers or external storage devices. Of course, the Apple goal: everything would be connected wirelessly but apparently that was a bridge too far. 

So, there, more ports, and no more dongles if the rumors are true. 

This story was just posted an hour or so ago over at MacRumors. When I saw the article there were only four comments; by tomorrow morning there will be over a hundred. Right now, forty-three minutes after the first comment, there are now seventy-two comments. And I bet all seventy-two comments will be surprised, thrilled, ecstatic. We'll see.